EP0609647B1 - Renewal or cleaning apparatus for ballastway - Google Patents

Abstract

A renewal or cleaning apparatus (1) for a ballastway of a track (5) is equipped with an apparatus frame (7) which is supported on the track via rail running gears (6) and on which there are provided, between the rail running gears (6), a ballast-clearing device and a ballast-discharging device (20) arranged after the latter with respect to the working direction of the apparatus (1) and having a discharging end (23). A track-lifting unit (26), capable of rolling along the track (5) via flanged rollers (32), and also a track-tamping unit (27) having a height-adjustable, settable tamping pick (42) and intended for compacting the discharged ballast are arranged, in the working direction, behind the discharging end (23) of the ballast-discharging device (20) and fixed on a common supporting frame (31), and also designed so as to be adjustable together with the latter relative to the apparatus frame (7) in the apparatus longitudinal direction via a drive (39). <IMAGE>

Description

The invention relates to a machine for renewing or cleaning a ballast bedding of a track, with a machine frame supported on the track by rail carriages, on which between the rail carriages a ballast clearing device which is height-adjustable by drives, a - downstream of the machine in relation to the working direction and having a discharge end - Ballast throwing device, a track lifting unit and a height-adjustable, optional tamping pick having a track tamping unit for compacting the thrown ballast are provided, the track lifting unit and track tamping unit being fixed in the working direction behind the dropping end of the ballast throwing device on a common supporting frame and also with the machine together with the machine .

According to US Pat. No. 5,172,636, a machine for cleaning the ballast bedding of a track is already known, the bridge-shaped machine frame of which is mounted on rail carriages arranged at the ends. About a ballast clearing device provided in the middle of the machine frame in the form of an endless clearing chain carried out under the track, the ballast is lifted out of the track bed and transported by means of a conveyor belt arrangement to a screening carriage - coupled to the machine in the working direction. Another conveyor belt arrangement transports the cleaned ballast from the screening wagon against the working direction to a ballast discharge device, which is located downstream of the excavation point and has a horizontally pivotable conveyor belt per rail in the machine longitudinal direction. Below the discharge ends of these conveyor belts are chute-like ballast distributors, which are attached to a track lifting unit and are each assigned to a rail of the track. The track lifting unit, which rolls on the track via flanged wheels, is articulated on the machine frame and equipped with a vibrator, by means of which the track and subsequently the ballast introduced is set in motion to improve the ballast flow. A track tamping unit arranged downstream of the track lifting unit and adjustable in height on the machine frame is used for the final compaction of the ballast in the flank area of the track by means of tamping picks that are opposite each other in the transverse direction of the machine and scoop the ballast up under the sleepers. Due to its particularly long length, this known machine cannot be used anywhere without problems.

A track tamping machine is described in US Pat. No. 4,794,862, which is designed for ballasting and subsequent tamping of a track. Between two trolleys of a machine frame there is a ballast accumulator with outlet openings for the discharge of ballast into the intermediate sleeper compartments as well as - downstream in the working direction - a track lifting straightening unit and a tamping unit. These two units are height-adjustable on guides running in the machine longitudinal direction on the machine frame and can be moved together from threshold to threshold with the aid of a longitudinal displacement drive, which means that the machine can be moved continuously during work. The machine is used in connection with a track renewal train or behind a ballast cleaning machine.

Another machine forming the starting point for the present invention is known from US 4,479,439 and is used to improve the formation of a track. This machine or system consists of several partial vehicles which are arranged one behind the other in the working direction and are coupled to one another and which carry the various working units. The ballast bed is removed from under the raised track by means of a clearing chain and transported away to the front. Then sand is thrown onto the now exposed formation and leveled or evenly compacted. A ballast discharge device then introduces new ballast onto the sand layer and (in one embodiment variant) is compacted under the sleepers using a tamping unit arranged downstream in the working direction. The tamping unit, together with a track lifting unit assigned to it, is mounted on a support frame, which in turn is attached to the machine frame of the main vehicle so as to be displaceable in the machine longitudinal direction, and - in order not to disturb the continuous approach of the entire system - during the tamping process according to the working speed the system moved longitudinally.

The object of the present invention is to create a machine of the type described in the introduction, with which the ballast introduction into the track can be improved with the formation of a structurally simple working unit.

This object is achieved with the machine described in the introduction in that the track lifting unit can be unrolled on the track by means of flanged rollers and support frame extending in the machine longitudinal direction is supported on the track with its front end in the working direction via the flanged wheels of the track lifting unit.

A machine equipped in this way advantageously and practically enables the tool frame of the track lifting unit to also be used as a supporting frame for supporting the track tamping unit. As a result, it is no longer necessary to store the tamping unit on the machine frame, and thus there is the possibility of undisturbed arrangement of the ballast discharge device directly above these units along the machine frame. This subsequently allows a significant improvement in the introduction of the ballast to achieve an optimal work result in ballast bed renewal. The ballast delivered by the discharge device can flow directly under the sleepers held up by the track lifting unit and is immediately compacted by the tamping unit immediately before the rear rail carriage of the machine loads the new ballast bed. This leads to the advantage of a greatly improved track position immediately after the machine has passed through work, because in this way the track bed freshly filled with new or cleaned ballast is left in an already relatively good condition, which - without the need to use additional track construction machines - can provide train traffic up to a certain speed without problems. Furthermore, according to the invention, the support frame can be designed with a relatively short length without in the least restricting the performance or usability of the various working units arranged thereon. An extremely compact machine with high performance is thus created, which can also be used in situations which do not allow the use of very long machine arrangements.

The embodiment according to claim 2 allows for the simplest design of the support frame and its longitudinal guide an adjustment or deflection of the track lifting and the tamping unit in the cross-machine direction in order to be able to easily follow the course of the rails even in bends.

The preferred variant described in claims 3 and 4 is particularly suitable for use with this machine, since it allows the track tamping unit to be made very compact and relatively light, which subsequently also has a favorable effect on the load on the supporting frame.

With the development according to claim 5, the thrown-up ballast can be introduced in an optimal manner in a targeted manner into the desired areas of the ballast bed at the rail-threshold intersection, it also being ensured that the rails are protected from the falling ballast stones.

The arrangement of a plow according to claims 6 and 7 also serves the targeted ballast distribution, which can be precisely limited by means of the pivotable plow plates in the flank area of the track. With the front plate, the continuously thrown up and also accumulated ballast on the threshold tops is pushed or filled into the intermediate compartments in a rational way.

The embodiment of the invention set out in claim 8 finally makes it possible to carry out the ballast discharge in a more targeted manner since the discharge end of the conveyor belt is moved from threshold to threshold together with the tamping unit and lifting unit. This allows the ballast to be poured directly into the sleeper compartments, while the ballast remaining on the sleepers is kept to a minimum.

The invention will now be explained in more detail with reference to two exemplary embodiments shown in the drawing.

• Fig. 1 eine Seitenansicht einer erfindungsgemäß ausgebildeten Maschine zum Erneuern einer Gleisschotterbettung,
• Fig. 2 eine vergrößerte Seitenansicht des Gleishebe- und Gleisstopfaggregates der Maschine nach Fig. 1,
• Fig. 3 eine stark schematisierte Draufsicht auf die Aggregate gemäß Fig. 2 und
• Fig. 4 eine Seitenansicht einer anderen Variante einer erfindungsgemäßen Maschine.

Show it:

• 1 is a side view of a machine designed according to the invention for renewing track ballast bedding,
• 2 is an enlarged side view of the track lifting and track tamping unit of the machine according to FIG. 1,
• Fig. 3 is a highly schematic plan view of the units shown in FIGS. 2 and
• Fig. 4 is a side view of another variant of a machine according to the invention.

1 shows a machine 1 for renewing a ballast bed 2 of a track 5 composed of rails 3 and sleepers 4. The machine 1 has a bridge-shaped machine frame 7 which is supported at the end by rail carriages 6 and can be moved on the track 5 in a working direction indicated by an arrow 8. Approximately in the middle between the two rail carriages 6, a ballast clearing device 9 is connected to the machine frame 7, which consists of two clearing elements 11 which can be adjusted in height by drives 10. In the working position shown here, the clearing elements 11 are lowered below the sleepers 4 and swung in in the transverse direction of the track in order to convey the ballast out of the bedding 2 towards the two track flanks. Subsequently, the ballast to be removed is sucked off by means of a suction device 14 having two suction ports 12, a suction pipe 78 and a compressor 13 and thrown onto a stripping conveyor belt 16 via a cyclone separator 15. An air filter 17 separates the dust contained in the suction air, which also falls on the overburden conveyor belt 16 and is loaded together with the ballast located thereon via a transfer conveyor belt 18 into a silo wagon 19 - arranged upstream of the machine 1 in the working direction - for removal.

At the rear end of the machine frame 7 with respect to the working direction there is a ballast discharge device 20 with a conveyor belt 21 running in the longitudinal direction of the machine, the rear end of which on the receiving side can be loaded with new ballast 25 via a silo wagon downstream of the machine 1 and indicated by a transfer conveyor belt 22. The discharge end 23 of the conveyor belt 21 opposite the receiving end is equipped with two chutes 24 each associated with one of the rails 3, via which the new ballast 25 is introduced into the track 5 or onto the exposed subgrade. Below the discharge end 23 of the ballast discharge device 20 or in the working direction behind it, a track lifting unit 26 and a track plug unit 27 arranged downstream of it are provided for compacting the new ballast 25 that has been dropped; the more precise structure of these units can be seen from FIGS. 2 and 3. The machine 1 is also provided with a central power source 28 for supplying all drives and work units, a traction drive 29 for transferring and driving ahead and with a work cabin 30 arranged in the field of view of the ballast clearing device 9.

As is now clear from FIGS. 2 and 3, the track lifting unit 26 and the track tamping unit 27 are fastened on a common support frame 31 which extends approximately in the machine longitudinal direction. The track lifting unit 26 connected to this at the front end of the support frame 31 has wheel flange rollers 32 that can be rolled off the track 5 and cooperating with these, height-adjustable lifting plates 34 via drives 33 for positively capturing the rails 3 and is by means of lifting drives 35 between the supporting frame 31 and the machine frame 7 are articulated, height adjustable. The rear section in the working direction of the support frame 31, which is supported on the track 5 at the front end by means of the flanged rollers 32, is shaped like a hollow profile and is mounted on a guide rod 36 that runs in the transverse center of the machine 1 approximately in the longitudinal direction of the machine. The guide rod 36 is articulated with its rear end 37 directly in front of the rear rail undercarriage 6 on all sides on a support 38 which is firmly connected to the machine frame 7. A hydraulic drive 39 is mounted on the support frame 31 and articulated at the rear end 37 of the guide rod 36 and serves to move the support frame 31 together with the units 26 and 27 in the machine longitudinal direction along the guide rod 36 and thus relative to the machine frame 7.

The track tamping assembly 27 provided at the rear end of the support frame 31 in the working direction behind the track lifting assembly 26 is formed from two height-adjustable tamping units 40, 41, each of which is arranged above a rail 3 of the track 5 and is equipped with tamping picks 42 that can be provided. As seen in the machine longitudinal direction, these are formed in pairs opposite one another in the machine longitudinal direction, the upper ends of the tamping pick 42 of a pair being connected to one another via a common auxiliary drive 43. In each case one of the tamping picks 42 arranged in pairs also has an eccentric drive 44 at its upper end connected to the auxiliary drive 43, by means of which both picks of the pair can be set in vibration.

At the front end of the support frame 31, in the area below the chutes 24, a rail tunnel 45 covering the relevant rail 3 of the track 5 can be seen, which is fastened to the support frame 31 or to the track lifting unit 26 and the length of which extends in the machine longitudinal direction is greater than that Displacement of the support frame 31 is formed. In the area of the rear end of the rail tunnel 45 there is a directly behind the chutes 24, vertical end plate 46 is provided, which is aligned perpendicular to the machine longitudinal direction and connects the rail tunnels 45 to one another. The lower edge 47 of this end plate 46 runs parallel to the sleepers 4 of the track 5 and is in the working use of the machine 1 or the track lifting unit 26 directly above the sleepers. A vertical plow plate 48 is arranged on each of the two ends of the end plate 46, which are spaced apart from one another in the transverse direction of the machine. The plow plate 48 is connected to the end plate in the region of a rail outside and is designed to be pivotable about a vertical axis 49.

In work, the machine 1 moves continuously in the direction of the arrow 8, while the ballast bed 2 is lifted below the track 5 by means of the ballast clearing device 9 and the suction device 14 and loaded onto the conveyor belts 16 and 18 in the upstream silo wagon 19 for removal. At the same time, the track lifting unit 26 and track tamping unit 27 mounted on the support frame 31 move cyclically from threshold to threshold or from one tamping point to the next using the drive 39. Meanwhile, new ballast 25 is continuously dropped onto the track 5 via the chutes 24 of the ballast discharge device 20. The ballast remaining on the upper sides of the sleepers 4 or a possibly accumulating ballast is pushed into the intermediate sleeper compartments with the help of the end plate 46 and the plow plates 48 arranged thereon in the course of the cyclical forward adjustment of the supporting frame 31 relative to the machine frame 7.

The machine 50 shown in FIG. 4 has a machine frame 53 which is supported on a track 52 by rail carriages 51 and has a driving cabin 73 and working cabin 74 and is equipped with a ballast clearing device 55 for cleaning the ballast bed 54 of the track. This consists of an endless clearing chain 57 which is height-adjustable via a drive 56 and which, in use, is guided approximately centrally between the rail carriages 51 under the track 52, the track being held in its vertical position by means of a positive-locking track-lifting unit 58 which rolls on it. The clearing chain 57 is assigned a screening plant 59 which separates the overburden from the excavated ballast and transports it forwards in the working direction - indicated by an arrow 61 - via an overburden conveyor belt 60.

To reintroduce the ballast cleaned in the screening plant 59 into the track 52, a ballast discharge device 62 located below the screening plant is provided with a conveyor belt 63 running in the machine longitudinal direction, the discharge end 64 of which is provided with chutes 65. The conveyor belt 63 is mounted on the machine frame 53 by means of a guide 72 so as to be longitudinally displaceable. In the area immediately downstream of the chutes 65, a further track lifting unit 66 and a height-adjustable track tamping unit 67 with optional tamping picks 68 are arranged. Similar to the variant described in FIGS. 1 to 3, these two units 66, 67 are fastened to a common support frame 69, which is mounted on a guide rod 70 articulated on the machine frame 53 and is displaceable in the machine longitudinal direction and via flange rollers 77 of the track lifting unit 66 on the Track 52 is supported. The conveyor belt 63 is also connected or coupled to the support frame 69 and is longitudinally displaced together with it (see position indicated by dash-dotted lines), a drive 71 for cyclically longitudinal adjustment of the support frame 69 together with the working units and the conveyor belt 63 serving relative to the continuously advancing machine frame 53 . An insertion hopper 75 provided at the rear end of the machine 50 enables the ballast discharge device 62 to be loaded with additional ballast from a silo wagon downstream of the machine and indicated here only by a transfer conveyor belt 76.

Claims (8)

1. A machine (1;50) for renewing or cleaning a ballast bed (2;54) of a track (5;52), comprising a machine frame (7;53) supported on the track by on-track undercarriages (6;51), on which frame there are provided between the on-track undercarriages (6;51) a ballast excavating device (9;55) which is vertically adjustable by means of drives (10;56), a ballast discharge device (20;62) which is arranged following the said ballast excavating device with respect to the operating direction of the machine (1;50) and has a discharge end (23;64), a track lifting unit (26;66), and a vertically adjustable track tamping unit (27;67) which has squeezable tamping tines (42;68) for consolidating the discharged ballast, the track lifting unit (26;66) and the track tamping unit (27;67) being attached to a common support frame (31;69), following in the operating direction the discharge end (23;64) of the ballast discharge device (20;62), and being designed for displacement together with the support frame relative to the machine frame (7;53) in the longitudinal direction of the machine by means of a drive (39;71), characterized in that the track lifting unit (26;66) is able to ride on the track (5;52) on flanged rollers (32;77), and the front end, in the operating direction, of the support frame (31;69) which extends in the longitudinal direction of the machine is supported on the track (5;52) by the flanged rollers (32;77) of the track lifting unit (26;66).
2. A machine according to claim 1, characterized in that the rear part of the support frame (31) is mounted for sliding or displacement on a guide rod (36) extending in the longitudinal direction of the machine, the rear end (37) of the guide rod (36) being secured to the machine frame (7) for universal articulation in the region immediately preceding the rear on-track undercarriage (6).
3. A machine according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the track tamping unit (27) arranged on the support frame (31) following the track lifting unit (26) in the operating direction consists of two tamping components (40,41), each associated with one rail (3) of the track (5), the tamping tines (42) of which, situated in pairs opposite one another with respect to the longitudinal direction of the machine, are respectively joined at their upper ends by means of a common squeeze drive (43).
4. A machine according to claim 3, characterized in that one of the tamping tines (42) arranged in pairs in each case has an eccentric drive (44) at its end connected to the squeeze drive (43).
5. A machine according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that in the region beneath chutes (24) of the ballast discharge device (20) a respective rail tunnel (45) covering the relevant rail (3) is connected to the front end of the support frame (31) or of the track lifting unit (26), the length of the rail tunnel (45) being designed so as to be greater than the displacement path of the support frame (31) in the longitudinal direction of the machine.
6. A machine according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that provided at the front end of the support frame (31) is a vertical front plate (46), arranged immediately following the chutes (24), extending perpendicularly to the longitudinal direction of the machine and connecting the rail tunnels (45), the lower edge (47) of which, running parallel to the sleepers (4) of the track (5), is arranged during the operation of the track lifting unit (26) immediately above the sleepers (4).
7. A machine according to claim 6, characterized in that the front plate (46) has at its two ends spaced apart from one another in the transverse direction of the machine respective vertical plough plates (48) which are joined to the front plate (46) in the area of an outer side of a rail respectively for pivoting about a vertical axis (49).
8. A machine according to one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the ballast discharge device (62) is formed by a conveyor belt (63) running in the longitudinal direction of the machine and mounted on the machine frame (53) for displacement with respect to this direction, the conveyor belt being coupled with the support frame (69) for joint longitudinal displacement.

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